The Queen's Answer
by TinySlippers
Summary: An answer to some of the questions I had concerning Odette's mother. First fic ever. Now finished. Please forgive the bouncy nature of the story.
1. Prolouge

William was a young king when his reign began. His father had died in a major battle, one to expand his kingdom. His wife, the beautiful Humility, was the envy of every girl in the west lands. Her long blonde hair shone in the sunlight, even though she regularly wore a veil.

Though the last battle of King Fredrick had weakened the kingdom of Plantlos, the land was large and plentiful. Everyone was happy for many years. Well, almost everyone. William was sad.

As the years progressed, he grew even sadder. He was a king, and though he had the most beautiful woman in the world as a wife, he had no children. There was no one he could leave the kingdom to when he died. He had no close relatives.

Then a glorious day came to the people. The queen was going to have a child. Everyone rejoiced. Only the queen's closest friends could see the strain that her body was undergoing. Her body was so slight; they feared that she might not be able to carry the child.

For months Humility was confined to her chambers. She was not allowed to leave her room, for fear that the baby would come early. She grew impatient with the care that was being forcibly imposed on her.

And then the day came that she gave birth to a baby girl, a princess. Not the most ideal heir, but better than nothing. Her mother loved her and named her Odette. William was overjoyed with the news of his daughter. There was nothing more celebrated than the birth of this princess.


	2. Reminicing

Humility sighed and rested her head back on the pillows. She knew that the christening ceremony would be happening now. Hundreds of other royals were going to be filling the great hall.

Hopefully they would behave themselves this time. The queen did not want a repeat of the last feast. The food flying and crashing into the tapestries was not a pleasant sight. It had taken weeks to clean everything up.

Humility perked her head up at some raised voices floating up through the castle. They soon faded and she relaxed again. A small smile crept onto her face as she pictured the scene downstairs. It was too bad she needed to rest.

Her little Odette was going to be just fine. Just so long as her father did not betroth her to the highest bidder immediately. She deserved to find love on her own, just as her parents had done. It was quite a lovely story.

A prince had married a commoner girl.

But now was not the time for reminiscing. She needed to focus on recovering. The pregnancy had not been easy, and her small frame had almost prevented her from surviving. She needed to be around to see her daughter grow up.


	3. Cookies

A loud crash echoed through the hallways of the lower castle floors. Humility could not help but to fear the worst. _Oh no, not again._ Her thoughts echoed louder and louder.

She raced through the halls down to the kitchen only to find Odette happily sitting on a counter. A large bite of a cookie was in her mouth, obscuring her smile. The Queen could not suppress her laughter.

True, the best green cookie jar was on the ground in shambles. But she had to admit that no one had gotten hurt. Her little girl was safe.

Taking care to avoid the glass and the maid cleaning, Humility swept her daughter up into a hug. She was so relieved that only an insignificant glass jar had been hurt in this incident.

"Mama, you squishing me," the little girl almost whined. Her voice was sweet, but it was soft enough to get the message across.

"Sorry little one," came the answer from the queen. "You scared me. That was not the most quiet sound you have ever made."

Odette looked confused. She had made louder sounds before. She thought that the one that would scare her mother the most would have been the scream of her falling out of a tree. She had done that once.

"But, I did not scream," came her answer.

The puzzled look on her face softened the queen's heart. The frown Humility had worn melted into a smile as she hugged her little girl once again.

"I know. I know." Her voice carried the words across even sweeter than she had intended. "Just try to avoid breaking anything else."

"Alright mama." Odette's bright blue eyes looked into her mother's green ones with promise. Humility knew that Odette would not intentionally put herself in trouble while she was around her mother.

Odette would not get in trouble while at home. That would be saved for latter summers.


	4. Behind

After five years the time had finally come. The time that Humility had to surrender her precious little one to the hands of fate. The time for Odette to meet Derek.

Humility desperately wished that she could see her little one and help her along her way. However, despite her pleading, she would have to stay and govern her husband's kingdom. William was afraid that if he appointed a steward he would appear to be playing favorites.

Humility could understand her husband's reasoning. She understood everything, but she wanted to be there for her little girl. It would not happen immediately, but one day Odette's heart would break. And chances were, her mother would not be around to help her.

It had seemed so far off when Odette could be held in one of her father's arms. It had seemed not a moment too soon when she was breaking all the furniture and heirlooms. Now it seemed that time had flashed by.

Humility could not help but remember the other day.

She was chasing a blond haired fur ball down the hall. Her gown flared out behind her, dresses were not made for running, as she barreled down a corridor at her top speed. Humility's slippers were long gone, on a different floor of the castle entirely.

This was not the first time that Odette had covered herself in some substance. The top story floor still had traces of tar left from a few months ago. Then there was the time she covered her hair in eggs. The kitchen staff would not let her in unaccompanied any more.

This time she had crept into the dog kennel, and being covered in glue, needed a bath to rid her of the fur she had accumulated. But as Odette hated bathing more than anything else in the world, the chances of her coming peacefully were slim.

"Mama," came a small voice, breaking the train of thought Humility had.

"Yes," the queen answered. Her soprano voice sounded clear against the tumult of feelings she felt inside.

"Do I have to go?" The question was asked with certain desperation. The answer that the little one longed to hear was one that she did not seem to expect.

Humility did not want to give her daughter the requisite answer.

"I cannot tell your father anything once he has made up his mind. You should know that I tried. I said that it would be a little early, but he is so stubborn." The tone of her voice did not betray her frustration.

"But, Mama. Why? Why do you have to stay here?" The innocence of the small one was enough to make even the hardest stone heart bleed.

"You should not worry about that. I have to take care of everything here, and your Dad will be with you. You will be fine."


	5. Notes

Year after year Odette left to go to Derek's kingdom. Year after year they fought each other in large battles. Year after year Odette begged her mother to accompany her on her journey.

As much as Humility longed to be allowed to accompany her little girl on her journey through life, she knew that this was one area where William was unwavering. Her power was limited to what she was granted, and that small portion was more than any other girl in the entire country.

If Humility had been there she would have seen the signs of infatuation, and been able to help her daughter through the pain. Several years Odette had cried upon arriving home, so glad to be away from "that evil, sneaking, two timing, weasel".

Humility suspected that the first time Odette had attended a ball, and seen Derek dancing with another young noblewoman, she had cried herself to sleep. Most likely for the next week, if not month.

Now she was supposed to be preparing to leave again. Instead she was avoiding the fact for as long as possible. She had locked herself in her room, and would not let anyone in to talk to her. Would not let anyone other than her mother into see her.

She was thinner than was healthy for a girl her age. It was not a good idea to allow this type of behavior, but there was no other choice for her parents. They had tried commands, bribery, and even begging. Not a single thing had worked.

In her chambers, Humility sat on her bed and rubbed her temples. The headache that was induced by the actions of her daughter refused to give up the threshold it had gathered. She knew that as soon as Odette either gave up on Derek, or realized her love for him, things would once again go smoothly.

Odette was growing into a beautiful young woman. She had her mother's long pale gold hair and her fathers ocean colored eyes. Humility suspected that her hair would turn a light brown, though that would most likely not happen until she became a mother herself.

The pain in Humility's head intensified as the door creaked open. William came in, as worried as his wife was, with a letter in hand.

"You remember the letter that I sent to Uberta?" William asked. His pacing became quite annoying to Humility as she closed her eyes.

"How could I forget? All you asked her was, and I quote, 'What if Odette doesn't go for the merger?' Really?"

Now Humility was seriously wishing that the carpet was thick enough to muffle the sound of William's foot steps.

"Well, she wrote back."

"And." There was only the slightest hint of impatience in Humility's voice. William would have normally noticed, however, he was otherwise occupied.

"She just says that I should urge her."

Humility got up and put her hand on her husband's shoulder. "She will go. She won't like it but after this year there is nothing you can do. I think that she loves him, but I don't know his feelings. It is up to him to hold her together. If she comes back crying this time I will be most unhappy. And he will have proved that he doesn't deserve her."


	6. Revenge

Humility sat up in her bed. The sky was dark and starless, but no clouds hung in the heavens. The thin sliver of the moon was in the western edge. All was as dark as it could be.

She knew that something wasn't right. Something was horribly wrong.

Odette would be fine; she would come out of this endeavor stronger than ever. But it wasn't Odette's welfare that concerned Humility. It was William's.

The queen loved her daughter as much as any mother could, but her heart had belonged to William first. And something was not right in her heart. He was hurting, that she knew, and he might possibly be dead. But for now she had to focus.

If William was dead, then she had a kingdom to rule. If he wasn't dead, she still had to rule till he returned and was healthy enough to do it himself. This was probably the reason she had to have been left behind all these years.

Tonight she had to sleep, the work would come tomorrow.

This was Rothbart's chance. He couldn't kill William and marry his own cousin. That would just be wrong. And she still had the power to kill him and might possibly do so.

She was the reason that he was still alive. She had pleaded for William to spare his life, for she loved her cousin. But if he had killed William, he would be better off dead. She had the temper of a fire when it came to her husband.

But Odette was the perfect opportunity. Sweet and innocent, and helplessly in love with that fool Derek. All he'd have to do would be to crush her soul. Then she'd marry him and make him king.

This would be the perfect revenge for what the king had done to him. The perfect revenge for taking away what he held most dear.


	7. Spells

"Dear princess, don't worry." Odette hated Rothbart's voice. She hated it with a passion. "The spell only lasts until the moon touches the lake, and then you turn back into a princess."

Rothbart's little sister Bridget was throwing bread crumbs at Odette's head. Odette found it extremely annoying, and she backed away slowly unknowingly swimming into the reflection of the moon. Suddenly she was pulled under by some unseen force.

The water swirled around her as she gasped for air that wasn't there. She felt the water on her skin, unusual as the feathers had protected her just a moment ago.

And all of a sudden she was completely dry again. Completely dry and human.

She started to walk away from Rothbart and his evil little sister. She knew that he was her mother's cousin. The whole world knew that. It was why he was still alive. She just couldn't believe it. And she had to get away.

"In the morning you turn back into a swan wherever you are. In order to be human, you need to be on the lake at night."

Odette Slumped to the ground at these words. There was no way that she could possibly live under these conditions. She needed to go home. She needed to figure out her feeling. There might be all the time in the world for that here, but the sage advice from her mother was not.

Rothbart continued "Of course. I could always remove the spell." His tone implied a cost but Odette was too distraught to notice.

"You could?" she asked. There was a flicker of hope in her eyes.

"On one condition."

She suddenly became hesitant. Most people wanted her to do something that she had no power over. She wasn't the head of the government.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The kingdom."

She couldn't believe him. He had kidnapped her and then wanted her father's land. There was no way that she would willingly give it to him. Not in this life.

"Then take it," she said, hoping to tempt him into it. "You have the power." She knew that the guards could take him down, they had been preparing for the eventuality all her life.

"No, once you take something by force you spend your whole life fighting to keep it. But," he said. "If I marry the only heir to the kingdom, no one can say anything."

She stood there with her mouth wide open. She couldn't believe him.

"Never," she choked out.

"Enjoy your stay as a swan." And then he was gone.


	8. Boats

Humility sat on her throne looking rather pale. In truth she always looked pale in comparison with most, but today looked even paler than normal

Her hair was falling out of its braid and there were a few strands of gray hair at her temple that hadn't been there yesterday. Her veil was out of place as well.

She looked as though she was waiting for something. Something important.

A guard came in. "Yes."

One word was all he said, and it was all she needed to hear. Without warning to anyone else in the room she picked up her skirts and ran.

She tore down the halls and stairways. Maids grumbled. Servants looked at her questionably. Odette was grown up and not even here. What could cause her to run like that?

But she hardly cared anymore. She just needed to get there. She had to know for herself whether the worst had possibly happened.

She ran all the way to the docks. Breathless and painting she could see the outline of a ship on the horizon. Her height didn't help with that.

It came closer and closer and not soon enough to calm the queen down. She had started pacing less than five minutes in.

When the ship docked Humility couldn't help but notice that the flag of the king was flying above the mast. He was alive and aboard the ship. She heaved a sigh and as soon as the planks were down she booked it up to board the ship.

The captain quickly pointed her in the direction of her husband's cabin.

Once inside she saw him. William.

He was in a not so good state. True he was alive, the rise and fall of his chest told her that much, and he was conscious. Sort of.

But the bandage covering his entire torso, leaking in some areas, was not a good sign.

She sat down next to him on his cot. "How are you?" she asked.

"Uhhggg."

"I'll take that as a "not so good." Alright."

"Good. To. See. You." He choked on his words.

"Shh." She said lovingly. "You need to get better. There's a kingdom to run. A daughter to find, but she'll be alright."

"How…"

"Don't talk," she reprimanded gently. "I think that it's Rothbart."

"Rothbart." The king growled his name.

"Honey. What did I say about talking?" she asked. "Don't answer that," she added after a quick realization. "I know he's my cousin. And I know that he's done some horrible things in the past. But I also know him and I know that he wouldn't hurt Odette."

William just looked at her and reached for her hand.

Humility took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze before going on. "You don't hurt family members, at least not blood ones. You don't really count. And if he wants the kingdom the only claim he'll ever have is if he marries Odette."

A scowl grew over William's face until he grimaced in pain.

"Sailor," Humility called out the door. "Would you mind helping me get my husband back to the castle. I'm afraid that I can't lift him and he's horribly hurt."


	9. Correspondence

Dear Humility,

I am very sorry for the unfortunate circumstances that have occurred over the last week or so. By the time you receive this letter though, it will be much longer. First off, I must relay the activities that happened at my palace. That I can give you accurate details about thought what comes after is much less clear. When Odette arrived she and Derek were shepherded into the ballroom, alone which in retrospect seems less than wise, at which point they started to dance. Derek called for the wedding to be arranged. Odette, the most sweet and sensitive girl, asked why Derek wanted to marry her. He said that she was all he ever wanted, which is true, but then went on to say that she was beautiful. No pause. I admit that he is not the most articulate boy, but he can be so thick at times. When she asked him what else there was he couldn't think of anything. So Odette and William left. There was hardly any point for them to stick around longer, but if they had the situation could have been avoided. On their way to the boat they were attacked. The guard said something about a man, Derek ran off found your husband who said something about a great animal. William should be arriving on the boat around the same time as this letter. I have no idea about the condition that he is in. Hopefully he is still alive. Odette has not been found. We suspect foul-play. The people are still searching for her, but hope is dwindling with every day that passes.

Sincerely,

Uberta.

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Dear Uberta,

I must tell you that I was most displeased with your last letter. We used to be on such good terms. The letters that used to be sent between us were filled to the brim with emotion. Whether it be happiness or grief, joy or immense sadness I would rather have the old correspondence between us again than what you reported to me in the last letter. Thankfully, William returned home alive. His condition is not very stable at the moment so he will be spending some quality time recovering. I will be spending more time acting as regent. Odette has not returned home yet. I believe that she is alive and will return yet. As for Derek, if he truly loves Odette he will have a chance to correct his rather egregious mistake. It will take time and it will not be easy at all. However, it will be possible. I wish him the best in his efforts. I wish that ease comes to you as you rule your kingdom.

Sincerely,

Humility.

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Dear Humility,

I find it a little odd that both you and Derek are insisting that Odette is still alive. There is hardly any evidence to suggest that she still remains in this world. I would suggest that you prepare for the worst. If you can offer me any logical reason to continue the search, we will do so with all our efforts.

Sincerely,

Uberta.

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Dear Uberta,

One word.

Rothbart.

Sincerely,

Humility.

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No, I'm not dead. No, I haven't given up on the story. I moved, got a new computer and only just got around to putting a new word processor on. So I do have an excuse, even if it isn't a very good one. Hopefully the next update will be a lot sooner.


	10. Shock

Uberta gasped her hand covering what it could of the sound. The letter floated unnoticed to the floor as she shook her head. It just couldn't be. There was no way that this horrible fate could happen to an angel like Odette. For as much as Derek had denied it, that was what Odette was.

Uberta had heard a lot about Rothbart, from many sources. He was supposedly crazy and incredibly dangerous. Not only because of his desire to be king, but by some means he had discovered the secrets of sorcery. He was not only a mad man, but a powerful one.

But Uberta had knowledge of a secret that could bring the entire kingdom of Plantos, William's kingdom, to ruin. One that Humility had told her in the strictest confidence. Rothbart was Humility's cousin. Her first cousin.

Rothbart would never do anything to hurt Humility. That went against anyone's morals, even if they were utterly evil. And he couldn't kill William. Humility would declare war on him if he hurt her husband. But Odette. Odette was a way that he could legally take over the kingdom.

If he married the only heir, especially considering that it was certain that Humility would not be able to have another child, he would be king one day.

"Not good, not good." Uberta started to mutter under her breath.

"Mother," Derek interrupted. "I think that your guests are getting upset."

The queen stopped her pacing. "Tell them I'll be there shortly. I had unfinished business to attend to."

"Of course."

Uberta had guests to entertain. They were a bit early, but they also had to be attended to. But she had a letter to write. However, the letter had to travel three weeks to get to its final destination. A few hours wouldn't hurt it any.

"Day after day, it seems all the prince ever does is practice, and practice, and practice."


	11. Targets

"My dear queen, I find that this may be displeasing to hear but I must say it anyway. It seems that day after day, all the prince ever does is practice his archery."

Uberta had heard all of this many times before. "Perhaps you'll hear more from the other guests. I'm sure that they have stories to tell you."

"Of course your majesty." The lady curtsied low and hurried on her way.

Uberta rubbed her temples. She knew that a massive headache was on its way to her head, and the stress of having the nobles over and maintaining a pleasant exterior was not going to be helpful. She couldn't let anyone guess that she knew more than she had let on.

"Your majesty," Rogers said.

"Not now Rogers. I've got a tea party to attend."

"I'm afraid that you will have to put up with no music. Derek is insisting that we use the musicians as animals because the servants have today off." Rogers was wringing his hands.

"And they should. He makes them practice so hard. Just try not to disrupt the wildlife too much this time."

"Uberta, you are the queen."

"Obviously," she muttered under her breath.

"Could you possibly persuade him to take a few days off."

"If he's not practicing, he's in the library looking for the fat animal in some ancient text."

"The great animal," Rogers corrected.

"Big, great. It's large and has fur."

Rogers hurried on his way. Once Uberta had gotten upset it was no good to try to reconcile her. It didn't turn out well for either party.

"Now what to wear to the tea?" she pondered.

Fifteen minutes later she decided on the same red dress that she had worn last week. It was neither too formal, nor too plain.

On her way up the patio to her normal patio, she heard a strange exclamation.

"Not you Wesley, you're a rabbit for heaven's sake."  
It had to be Rogers. That was the only voice that sounded like that.

The lady across from Uberta, was it the Countess of Dubay, said "Day after day, all the prince ever does is practice, practice, practice."

Without thinking about what she was saying, Uberta replied "Thinking of her and the way that it was."

All of the nobles chimed in "practice, practice, practice."

Suddenly one of Derek's arrows, tipped with fluff so that it wouldn't hurt anyone, broke Uberta's teacup and covered her face with orange powder.

"Derek" Uberta yelled.

"Not now mother," he called back.


	12. Possibly

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked his mother.

"I'm talking about the great animal. The thing that you have been looking for in all the books that you've read."

Uberta was a little mad. She knew that Derek was not the most intelligent of people, but this was just exasperating. He was being a complete block head.

"But you mentioned Rothbart. He's the crazy person who got thrown out of Plantos about the time that Odette was born. What does he have to do with this?" Derek replied.

"Humility..." Uberta began before being interrupted.

"That's Odette's mother."

At this point Uberta had had enough. She hurtled a book at Derek's head but, fortunately for him, he ducked just in time. "You don't have to relate everything back to her you know. She's not the center of the universe."

"She might be the center of mine."

"But you didn't show her that, or even tell her, while she was here. You might have lost all hope forever. Remember that next time," she yelled back at him.

"If there is a next time," Derek muttered under his breath.

"Look Derek," Uberta said more gently. "Humility believes that Odette may have been kidnapped by Rothbart. He's a powerful magician and wizard. Do be careful. And just a warning, even if she is out there, she might not take you back. Even if you do rescue her."

"I'll try to remember that. Thank you mother." With that Derek bowed and left the room.

Hello all. So next month is NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. As a heads up, next month I will hardly work on this story, if at all. But it was NaNo that got me interested in fanfiction. So on behalf of all those who are participating I'd like to ask something of you. I'd like to ask you to sponsor me. I'll be writing a novel. I'll try to work on this too, if I have the time and support of people like you. But in order for programs like NaNo to continue they need monotary support. If you'd like to help please go to this link

.org/fundraise?fcid=150896

Even $5 will help. Thank you.


	13. Ludicrous

"Odette. Listen to me," Rothbart pleaded.

"Now why would I ever do such a thing?" she asked him.

Rothbart was not used to having anyone talk back to him. True, the only other person around him was Bridget, but that didn't mean that people didn't listen to him. He was such a powerful magician that people feared him enough to avoid ignoring him.

"Your precious prince is never going to come for you. He thinks that you're dead," Rothbart retorted. When she didn't reply he stormed off in a huff, cloak billowing behind him.

Odette was livid. She knew that Derek loved her, she just needed to hear him say it. She also knew that he would never stop looking for her. Derek was not what anyone could call verbose, he preferred action to words, but there were times when he was so sweet that she could only believe that he truly felt for her.

"Don't believe a word he says," Sir Lorenzo Trudge Along said.

"I know, Speed," Odette told the turtle. "He's a dirty liar. But he's also a powerful sorcerer. He could seriously hurt Derek. I don't want anything to happen to him."

"Oui, oui. We know. You adore him. Despite his inattentiveness, despite his inability to express his love. Despite all his flaws, you love him," Jean Bob said.

Jean Bob might have been a frog. Afrog who thought he was a prince, but a frog none the less. Inspite of this fact he had a point. Odette was utterly in love with Derek. She would never admit it to anyone who was not an animal, but she knew it in her heart.

aaaaaaa-bbbbbbb-ccccc

Up in the clouds a puffin was flying along, minding his own buissiness. He was hardly paying any attention to his surroundings. The next thing that anyone knew, an arrow had lodged itself in his wing and he was plummeting to earth.

All the other birds moved out of the way. They did not want to be the next victims of hunting. Hunters were dangerous, something to be avoided at all costs.

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**So, as I mentioned last chapter, I'm going to do NaNoWriMo in November. I know that you guys read my stories, and for this I am truly greatful. When I check my stats it feels amazing to see the numbers go up. But I want you to be aware that I will be putting this story on the backburner. It will mostlikely not get updated very frequently. I will update often durring December though.**

**Also, I am looking for sponsers. I put the website link in the last chapter butI'll put it here too.**

**.org/fundraise?fcid=150896**

**As incentive for you to donate, I'm just going to say that for every ten dollars that I raise I'll post a new chapter. If no one donates I won't be posting till December, and possibly later.**


	14. Plans

Derek searched long and hard for something, anything, that would tell him about Odette. If Humility was right and Rothbart had really taken her... Darek didn't want to think about what might have happened. There were somethings that second cousins could do that first cousins were forbidden from even considering. Not that anyone could actually control thoughts though.

He sighed as he climbed up the lader for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. He had been through just about the entire library and was now just getting to the section on dark magic. Derek had rather hoped that what he was looking for would be somewhere else, but after what his mother had told him he could hardly think of looking anywhere else.

And then he saw it. The thing that would explain King William's cryptic mutterings that night. An entire chapter on the theory of shape-shifting. It had detailed notes on the physical changes that would happen and some of the possible side effects, some of the more common ones included insanity and a permanant change of features. It was rather startling to see.

Derek jumped off the ladder and hurried out the door to find Bromley. He knew that with a little luck they would be able to find her.

Odette swam around the lake again and again thinking. She felt like she just needed to get away. Get out. Fly away and find Derek.

Threre was just one little problem with that. She didn't know where she was, let alone where Derek would be. For all she knew he could have given her up for dead and be married and on his honeymoon right now.

Odette shuddered at that thought. She didn't want to think of the possibility that Derek might be married to anyone other than her. She might have not said it out loud, but she was in love with Derek.

"So what are you going to do?" Puffin asked.

"About what?" Odette shook out of her contemplative state.

"About that prince of yours."

**A/N: So I realized that I started this over a year ago and I can't even seem to get one chapter a month up. How pathetic is that? Anyway, I'm going to try to be more frequent on updates and such. Hope that no one's mad at me. And just as a side note. I will finish this story. I may be on hold for long periods of time, but I never abandon a project.**


	15. Physician

Humility paced the halls, the white streak in her hair a little more visible with her distinct lack of veil. She bit her fingernails as she waited for the physician to finish his examination of her husband. He had been recovering nicely, but there was still question as to how long his recovery would take.

As she paced, her thoughts turned to that of her daughter. She wondered how she was doing. Obviously she hadn't complied with Rothbart's demands. He would have been much to eager to show his victory off if she had.

She hadn't received any word from Uberta other than her indignation at Humility's encouragement of Derek's behavior. Humility had laughed at that. Derek was as stubborn as his mother. He certainly didn't need anyone to encourage him, but it wasn't making him any worse.

"Your Majesty," the old raspy voice of the court physician interrupted her thoughts. "You may go in now."

With hardly so much as a nod his direction, the queen rushed to her husband's side.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than you," William answered. His fingers gently stroked the worry lines that creased his wife's forehead more often than not those days. When she didn't worry about him she worried about their daughter.

"I'll be fine. She'll be fine. Derek would know if she wasn't." Her words were more to soothe her own fears than those of her husband.

William took her hand in his. "You'd know if she wasn't. And the fact that you worry makes me nervous."

"I don't worry that she's alive. I don't worry that she's safe. I worry about her being happy. And it's my job to worry about her. I always have."

**A/N: Hello everyone. It's good to be back. It's really nice to be able to type without pain again. I'm just starting to get back into writing fan fiction, so please be patient with me. Also, sorry if my style's changed too much over the years. It has been a while. **


	16. The End

Humility sat in her pew, gently dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. She couldn't believe her daughter was getting married, and to the man who had been in her life from the very start. She had to admit it, William could be smart about love at times.

William, next to his wife, waited as the bells rang out above them. They watched the young couple exit the church before he leaned over to whisper in his wife's ear.

"Are we supposed to congratulate them now?"

"I think that we'll do that at the reception. For now, they've got plenty to do," she replied.

There was the parade. There was the formal introduction and coronation. Everything before the ball in the evening would be rushed and crazy. It wouldn't be the reunion that Humility and William had wanted.

It was a lovely wedding. It was a lovely day. And, as the events rolled on, it was clear that Rogers was a master at orchestrating not only musicians, but events as well.

Finally, Odette's parents got to speak with her.

"We love you sweetheart," her mother said as she embraced the daughter that now towered over her. "Don't ever forget that."

"And we hope that you're happy," William continued. "If he does anything wrong, just send him to your mother. She'll straighten him out in no time."

Odette just laughed, having the best day of her life. It truly was a happy ending.


End file.
